Excavation minigame

The excavation minigame can be played in Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Final Fantasy X-2. It involves searching for hidden treasures in various parts of the Bikanel Desert, with Picket advising the player of danger.

To initiate the minigame the player must visit Djose Temple and get enlisted by the Machine Faction by talking to Gippal and answering "We're sure" when the option comes up. He will give the Gullwings the Letter of Introduction key item. This will make Bikanel a Hotspot when the Gullwings return to the Celsius.

Visiting Bikanel and talking to Nhadala will initiate the minigame. In Chapter 2, she will send the Gullwings to the Oasis to investigate some suspicious activity.

Contents

The player is given 60 seconds to find a golden X on the map and dig up the mission-critical item. This will be either an assembly piece, which will affect the strength of Experiment in Chapter 5, or a piece of Scrap Metal. There will also be four silver X on the map the player may also hunt for. These will either award the player an item, an Al Bhed Primer, a Sphere Break coin, or will initiate a battle. Successfully finding the mission-critical item and returning to the hover before the timer runs out rewards the party with gil depending on their wage. The golden X will always appear with at least 25 seconds remaining.

Once the assembly piece is uncovered the player should return to the hover before the time runs out. If the player fails to make it back in time, Yuna will collapse and lose all they have obtained during the dig. Failing to retrieve the mission-critical item also results in a loss. In the Western Expanse and the Central Expanse the player will also have to compete with other diggers for the treasures.

Occasionally after three to ten seconds have passed, the screen may flash red with a warning of an unidentified object approaching the area. Later on in the dig a red reticule may appear on the map heading for Yuna. If the reticule meets Yuna a battle will initiate. In Chapters 1, 2 and 3 this will be a battle against the superbossAngra Mainyu, and the player cannot yet defeat it at this point as it will always eject the party. In Chapter 5 a battle against monsters indigenous to the area will initiate instead.